Hearkening back to the days before “low-fat” and “low-carb” took the fun out of food, The Good Home Cookbook features more than 1,000 recipes from the days when comfort food wasn’t the latest trend, but a way of life. From a massive collection of vintage cookbooks, including heirloom family recipe books, Richard J. Perry selected dishes that represent the true staples of American cuisine. Then, to see how the recipes changed over the years, they were cross-referenced with later cookbooks. Ingredients and techniques were “averaged” across regions and decades and finally, in a unique public testing program, sent to hundreds of home cooks in all 50 states. The recipes were tested, retested — without fancy stoves or exotic equipment — and meticulously evaluated until each was perfect: a wholesome, delicious American classic in keeping with today’s tastes, but never straying from its honest, blue-plate beginnings.